When the Filipinos made Duterte President, they should have also expected that we will have more people like him in government, officials who behave like neighborhood bullies, and talk like drunkards.

That the Duterte officialdom is full of bullies predisposed to "usapang lasing" or drunken talk was again exemplified by Mon Tulfo when he said that Filipino construction workers are lazy and do nothing but smoke cigarettes on the job. Mon Tulfo might have been drunk with alcohol when he said this, but definitely he is now drunk with power for his own good.

Such hubris can only come from someone who does not realize that he owes his power to the same people he ridicules as good-for-nothing slobs. After all, Mon Tulfo has yet to prove himself in government as Special Envoy to China, and that he is nothing like the slackers and sloths he makes out the Filipinos to be.

We could have let this pass if it was only Mon Tulfo the columnist talking. After all, we were already used to his blunt language as an opinionated observer who specialized in anecdotal wisdom.

But this is already Mon Tulfo the Special Envoy to China, talking. This is already the public official, who draws his salary from government funds, funds that come from taxes paid by the same workers he attacks and vilifies as lazy. Like most Duterte officials who were appointed more for reasons of their sycophancy than their competence, Mon Tulfo has a problem distinguishing between his private persona and his public position. He forgets that he is no longer a columnist.

Unfortunately, he also forgets that being Special Envoy to China means advancing Filipino interests, and not defending the Chinese takeover of Philippine jobs. The Filipino workers should stop paying Tulfo's salary. Instead, China should be given the option of retaining him as its alternate spokesperson, second only to Duterte himself.

Instead of firing Mon Tulfo, Malacañang defends him as a public official entitled to his own opinion. This is the usual response of Malacañang to insults and offensive remarks of Duterte copycats in government. These Duterte wannabes may be entitled to their own opinions. But as long as they are being paid by Filipino taxpayers, they have no right insulting Filipinos.

If Mon Tulfo cannot stop insulting Filipinos or apologize for his offensive and baseless remarks against them, he should just resign. Otherwise, he would just be another free-loader with nothing to show for his plum government position.